Afghan Taliban behead 17 people for attending music party

Afghan officials say 15 men and two women were beheaded by Taliban militants for attending a party with music and dancing. The incident is part of a bloody 24-hours in Afghanistan that saw 13 soldiers killed, including two Americans.

The Telegraph quotes Afghan officials saying the Taliban had tried to stop the party Sunday night in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province when gunfire was heard. It's not known if the victims had all been shot before they were decapitated. Nematullah Khan, governor of Musa Qala, says, "They were having a music party and the Taliban came and killed them and cut off their heads." The Star says Khan adds that the partiers were killed by the Taliban to show their disapproval of the event.

So far there has been no response from the Taliban, that largely controls the region.

The Star reports that early this morning, two American soldiers were accidentally shot and killed by an Afghan soldier when they had come under attack. As the US and Afghan troops took up positions, an Afghan soldier fell and accidentally discharged his weapon, killing two American soldiers.

Noman Hatefi, a spokesman for the Afghan army corps in eastern Afghanistan is quoted in The Star, saying, “He didn’t do this intentionally. But then the commander of the unit started shouting at him, ‘What did you do? You killed two NATO soldiers!’ And so he threw down his weapon and started to run.” By that time, the US troops had called for air support to help with the insurgent attack, and the helicopter fired on the fleeing Afghan soldier, killing him.

So far this month, a dozen American soldiers have died at the hands of their Afghan allies.

Meanwhile, in yet another incident, 10 Afghan soldiers were killed in an attack on a checkpoint in Helmand province and another five are missing, believed to have either been kidnapped or joined their attackers.